Rainbow Chard & Pine Nut Tart

This is something that I have made and eaten countless times. Although it is relatively simple to make it almost always symbolises for me an occasion of some sort. Which is why I've chosen to share this recipe at this time. It's a great dish to have included in a christmas lunch and it's always enjoyed equally by vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. I've certainly had my share of this tart at christmas lunches. I never tire of it. My mother is the one that found this recipe in an italian cookbook nearly twenty years ago. This is my adaptation of my mothers adaptation of that recipe. I hope it becomes as much of a part of your families recipe repertoire as it is in ours.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 8

For the Pastry

3 Cups of stoneground organic plain flour or spelt flour

1 Local, organic/biodynamic free range egg

A pinch of good quality sea salt

80g Of expeller pressed virgin coconut butter

100g Of organic butter

4 Tbs of raw, biodynamic or organic milk

For the Filling

1 Bunch of rainbow chard (spinach or silverbeet works just as well)

250 ml Organic cream

100g Of organic, rennet free pecorino, finely grated

Half a nutmeg finely grated

3 local, organic/biodynamic free range eggs

1 Tsp of good quality sea salt

100 g of pine nuts

Directions

Add your flour and a pinch of salt to a bowl and grate in the coconut butter and butter. Rub the butters into the flour with tips of your fingers until it resembles bread crumbs. Add the egg and the milk a tablespoon at a time working the dough until a nice soft ball begins to form. Turn out onto a floured surface and kneed for 30 seconds. Roll out with a rolling pin until it's about 5 - 7.5 mm thick. Roll the pastry around the rolling pin then unroll it onto a greased and floured tart tin thats 30cm in diameter. Press the pastry down and trim the edges by running over the edge with the flat side of a butter knife Cover with a clean tea towel and place in the fridge for a half an hour. 

Often there is a little pastry left over after this step. When there is I put the pastry into a couple of mini pie tins and my daughter fills them with jam to make mini jam tarts.

Meanwhile fill a large bowl with boiling water and place the rainbow chard in it for 30 seconds. Drain and rinse well with cold water. Squeeze out all the excess water and roughly chop. Place in a bowl with all remaining ingredients apart from the pine nuts and stir until well combined.

Pour the mixture into your tart case, top with the pine nuts and place into a preheated oven at 180 degrees celsius for around 45 minutes until nice and golden.

Let it rest in the tin for at least ten minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Baba Ganoush and Sumac Pita Crisps

I love to cook for friends and when I do i like to cook a lot. However it's always in an informal and casual manner. Dips suit me just fine as a first course and everyone is always impressed by a fresh, homemade dip. And it's so easy to do.

I have been making and refining my baba ganoush for a while now and I've now got it just how I like it.

This recipe contains yogurt but if your vegan or you don't eat dairy just leave it out.

The sumac pita crisp recipe is something I pinched from a friend years ago. I quickly dropped into her place one day and she was making these with her children. I've been making them ever since. They're also good topped with za'atar instead of the sumac.

 BABA GANOUSH

This makes about the amount as a regular store bought dip, double the recipe if you need to.

INGREDIENTS

1 Eggplant 

1 Small clove of garlic

1 Heaped tbs of tahini

1 Heaped tbs of biodynamic plain yogurt

Juice of one lemon

Good quality sea salt

Handful of parsley

DIRECTIONS

Place the Eggplant on top of a gas burner on your stove set on high. Turn the eggplant using tongs when it's charred. Once it's blackened and charred all over, place it on a plate to cool. Smash the garlic clove with the flat side of a heavy knife and top with a pinch of salt, roughly chop until it's quite minced. Remove the flesh from the burned outer skin of the eggplant and place it in a blender. Add everything apart from half the lemon juice and yogurt. Use the pulse action on the blender and pulse for a few seconds of untill well combined but keep in mind that you want some texture. Put it into a bowl and add the yogurt and more lemon juice and salt if it needs it. Give it a good stir, top with a little olive oil, a little smoked paprika and serve with the pita crisps.

SUMAC PITA CRISPS

INGREDIENTS

Pita bread

Organic salted butter (you can use olive oil or extra virgin expeller pressed coconut butter)

cracked pepper

sumac 

good quality sea salt

DIRECTIONS

Split the pita breads in half and spread with butter (you don't need to be too precise with this part as the butter spreads as it melts). Sprinkle with sumac, a pinch of salt and cracked pepper.

Place on a tray and back at 200 degrees celsius for 5-10 or until crisp and golden brown. Brake up into large pieces. store in an airtight container for a few days.

ENJOY!

Cheese & Onion Scrolls

Both my parents had shops on Greville Street, Prahran in the 80's and 90's. We lived on top one of them. Around 20 years later My husband and I had a shop two doors down from the one I lived in as a child. We lived above it for nearly 2 years with our two children and two dogs. Growing up it was an incredibly vibrant and rather alternative street. One of my favorite places to eat was feedwell cafe, A vegetarian cafe that had been in greville st since the early 70's (I think) and closed in the late 90's.

One of the things I loved to get from there was their cheese and onion scrolls. You could get them filled with salad and condiments, yum!

I think I got these pretty close to the original. The best way to eat these is strait out of the oven. They keep for two days.

You can make a variety of fillings using the same dough. I made cheese and onion, cheese and relish and cheese and veggie spread (Vegemite alternative). My favourite hands down is the cheese and onion but a bit of variety keeps the clan happy.  How well they keep depends on the filling you've used.

INGREDIENTS

Makes about 16 scrolls

Yeast Mixture

14g Dry yeast 

1 Cup of warm water

1 Heaped tsp of raw local honey

1 Tsp of good quality sea salt

1 cup of organic or biodynamic milk

2 Tbs of olive oil

2 Tbs of spelt flour

+

3 Cups of stoneground wholemeal flour

2 Cups of spelt flour

+

300g Of a good melting rennet free cheese I use Nimbin, grated

1 1/2 Onions thinly sliced

A few pinches of good quality sea salt

DIRECTIONS

Put all the yeast mixture ingredients apart from the flour into a bowl and stir untill well combined. Then sprinkle the the two tablespoons of flour over the top of the mixture. Place a clean tea towel over the top and stand in a warm place for fifteen minutes, bubbles should start to form on top by this stage.
Add the flour and beat with a wooden spoon until you have a soft ball starting to shape. transfer onto a floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and stand in a warm place for around 40 minutes.
Punch dough and knead again for 5  minutes.
Split the dough into three equal portions and roll out each portion to be 1cm thick oblongs.  Top each oblong with equal amounts of cheese and onion and a scattering of salt. Roll the dough from the shortest edge so you have a big log. Cut the logs into 4cm wide rounds. Lay the rounds flat on a oiled tray and brush with a little water. Rest for 20 minutes. Cook in a very hot oven for 15 - 20 minuets.
Eat.

Enjoy!

Kohlrabi, Pine nut & Parsley Salad

I have eaten Kohlrabi before but I have never cooked with it. Thanks to my regular seasonal organic box from here it gets me using veggies which I might not usually buy. 

Kohlrabi is from the brassica family and tastes like a cross between the inside of the stem of a broccoli and a radish. It's sweet, crisp, fresh and has a very slight kick to it. 

There are many ways to cook this vegetable but I prefer it raw. Kohlrabi is high in vitamin C, B6, Thiamin and has good amounts of minerals like Iron, Calcium, Potassium and Manganese.

I was pretty pleased with this salad, it's so simple and really, really delicious. If you can find a pomegranate you could use that rather than the currants or you could use both.

This salad needs to be served as soon as it's made.

INGREDIENTS
Serves 2 as a light lunch or 4 as a side

1 Kohlrabi

A big handful of Parsley
A small handful of currants

50g Pine nuts

Dressing

1 Clove of spring garlic or half a clove of regular garlic
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 Tsp of dijon mustard
7 Tsp olive oil
1 Tsp good quality sea salt
2 Tsp maple syrup
A big pinch of sumac

DIRECTIONS

Peel the Kohlrabi with a knife, thinly slice and cut into batons. Lightly toast the pine nuts in a dry frypan, allow to cool. Add the pine nuts, chopped parsley and currants.

Whisk the dressing with a fork until emulsified. 

Toss and serve.

Enjoy!